Getting into the Weeds of Medicinal Cannabis

If you're someone who uses cannabis, making the switch to medicinal cannabis could help you stay safer and give you more control over what you're consuming. While medicinal cannabis can be an important element of your personal health care, accessing and using any medication needs to be done carefully. And while medicinal cannabis is legal to access, there are still many things to consider in regards to safe and legal use. For transgender and gender diverse people, accessing and using medicinal cannabis can be more complicated or can have impacts on your gender-affirming care. 

Getting into the Weeds of Medicinal Cannabis is a resource for transgender people in Aotearoa who use cannabis.

It is designed to assist you in changing from illegal cannabis use to legal cannabis use, and to understand:

  • what will happen if you see a doctor about a medicinal cannabis prescription

  • what prescription cannabis is like

  • Information about what's legal and what isn’t, including a quick reference chart

It was developed as part of a collaboration between Community Action on Youth and Drugs – CAYAD (Tāmaki Makaurau) and the awesome folk at  Gender Minorities Aotearoa. It was supported by Te Puna Whakaiti Pāmamae Kai Whakapiri New Zealand Drug Foundation, and  YouthLaw Aotearoa

Based on this resource, we’ve made three videos to highlight important elements of the resource:


Getting your first medicinal cannabis prescription.

Travelling domestically with your medicinal cannabis prescription.

Renting and flatsharing as a medicinal cannabis user.

Why switch to a medicinal pathway?

If you’re using cannabis, it’s important to do it safely:

Know what you’re getting - Medicinal cannabis comes from known suppliers who are required to meet a minimum quality standard for safety and potency. Medicinal cannabis must be free from contaminates like pesticides, heavy metals, and harmful, synthetic PGRs (Plant Growth Regulators), which may be found in unregulated sources.

Support while taking cannabis - the legal pathway provides you with a medical professional you can trust to talk through your experiences and make sure the dosage and strength is right for you.

Legal safety measures - medicinal cannabis is legal, which means you are protected by the law when carrying and using your prescription in public places or in your home.

Some things to be aware of:

The cost of medicinal cannabis products: Medicinal cannabis prescriptions are not subsidised. Through our community submissions to this project, community members spoke about how this can be challenging.

In your workplace: Even if you have a medicinal cannabis prescription, you might still have certain expectations to follow at work. For a great guide to workplace drug testing, check out this resource from the NZ Drug Foundation: Medicinal Cannabis: A Guide for Employers and Employees

Impairment: Staying safe is the first priority when using medicinal cannabis. Even when used as prescribed, cannabis can affect attention, coordination, and reaction times. Because the body processes cannabis slowly, traces can remain in saliva for many hours, and sometimes days, after use.  

Roadside Drug Testing: In 2026, New Zealand Police will introduce roadside drug testing, which will include checks for cannabis. Having a medicinal cannabis prescription does not permit driving while impaired, but it does provide important legal protections. If you are carrying your prescribed medication or return a positive roadside test, a valid prescription can help you challenge fines or demerit points.

If you’d like to read more about the roadside drug testing changes, this is an article by NZ Drug Foundation that is kept up to date with the most recent developments.

What’s our community saying about medicinal cannabis:

Here are two submissions we have received that talk about medicinal cannabis:

“I went into the doctor to access a prescription, mainly because I didn't want it to impact my ability to work -I'm very responsible with it, I know when to stop, it is only on my time -however if its caught in a check, no luck. However I found the cost too prohibitive for my means, so I usually am still participating in light recreational medicinal use. I have tried to draw back and practice sleeping without it, connecting without it etc -enjoyment and healing in moderation.” Self ID Tags: ED

“I have a prescription for a medicinal cannabis oil, but prefer to just buy & smoke weed. While having a legal avenue is good, there are more cons than pros for me. I’m unable to work so the prohibitive cost combined with the frequency I would need to purchase, makes regular legal use unthinkable. There is also the fact that, with oil, there is a significant wait time between consuming & getting relief —think two+ hours. When I smoke, I’m able to have pain relief within minutes & can immediately return to what I was doing, while using minimal weed to get there. It’s not fool-proof, I have to take regular tolerance breaks, which means being in high levels of pain for days on end (I spend most of this time bedridden, even using my wheelchair is painful), but it works. I have no plans to change the means & regularity of my use.” Self ID Tags: Disability/Health, Transmasculine

About this project:

Queering Cannabis is a project exploring the connections between cannabis and our trans and non-binary whānau. Research shows that cannabis use within our community is three times higher than the general population — and it’s continuing to rise.

We’re currently running a listening campaign to gather community stories, perspectives, and experiences. By listening first, we aim to provide genuinely useful information that supports trans people to navigate cannabis safely. Over time, we hope to spark conversation, raise awareness, and build a resource hub our community can access and explore.

You can join with us and contribute, by adding your voice here.